10. Downy Woodpecker (Cross-vine

Downy woodpecker Fig. 27

Call: pik

Fig. 28. Cross section of cross-vine.

RUBY-THRoATeD HUMMINg BIRD, Plate XlVIII

Trumpet Vine

Campsis radicans

The trumpet vine is a vigorous, fast-growing vine featuring redorange (or rarely, yellow), tubular, three-inch flowers throughout the summer. It will climb quickly over structures and nearby trees, attaching by aerial rootlets. Trumpet vine is fairly drought tolerant and can become invasive, spreading itself very vigorously and overcoming smaller plants. In the early spring it can be cut back to promote bushier growth. Young plants may die back to deep fleshy roots in severe winters but they will quickly recover. The plant is frequently cultivated because of its large clusters of attractive, bright red flowers which attract hummingbirds. Pollination is accomplished by hummingbirds and long-tongued bees.

In this print, Audubon renders the American native trumpet vine, which was introduced in England in 1640 and was one of the most popular plants of the Georgian period. The Europeans were also particularly taken with the hummingbird. The original painting for this print makes stunning use of metallic paint to highlight the wings and bodies of the birds. “I have represented these pretty and most interesting birds in various positions, flitting, feeding, caressing each other, or sitting on the slender stalks of the trumpet-flower and pluming themselves. The diversity of action and attitude thus exhibited, may, I trust, prove sufficient to present a faithful idea of their appearance and manners. A figure of the nest you will find elsewhere” (Audubon, Vol. 1, 253).*

*Audubon included the nest in plate CLVI (number 19 in this guide).

Hummingbirds are native only to the New World, and the ruby-throated is the only one of which Audubon would have had any significant firsthand observation. The rubythroated hummingbird is a summer resident of much of the eastern United States, and it overwinters in some parts of southern Alabama. It is fairly common in gardens and on the edges of woodlands.

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